Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Bad news, everyone!  This actually gets worse on re-watch.  I kept fast-forwarding just to make it end faster.  The only parts that still hold up are the bits with Wonder Woman, Alfred, and Lois and Martha Kent.  Everything else is bad, scenery-chewing, I'm-creating-a-multiverse nonsense.  I think watching it with my cousin was the only thing that made it palatable because watching it by myself?  The worst.  "Your mom's name is Martha?  But MY mom's name was Martha!" just can't be saved.  There's no shining that turd.  It's a joke for good reason.  Consign this to the dumpster fire of Zach Snyder's ego.  Originally posted 12 Sep 2016.    I know this is hella late in the evening for a post but I had to finish my homework.  Guys, the month of September is kicking my ass so far.  I feel like I'm barely staying afloat at work and school and it's only been two weeks.  But that has nothing to do with movies so we're going to move along and pretend like I'm not Wile E. Coyote running off the edge of a cliff.

This is the other movie I watched while I was visiting Christy.  We had gotten four but this one ended up being so heavy it kind of killed the mood.  I will say it wasn't as awful as I had heard though it definitely could have benefitted from more editing.

After the events of Man of Steel, the world now has to come to grips with having Superman (Henry Cavill) in their midst.  For some like Senator Finch (Holly Hunter), that means finding a way to hold essentially a demigod culpable for the repercussions of his actions.  For others like Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), that means designing a weapon capable of killing a demigod.  Batman (Ben Affleck) has his own reasons for disapproving of Superman's methods and has no problem being the instrument of justice.  Superman, for his part, loathes the idea of Gotham's brand of vigilante heroism leaving the two title characters distinctly at odds until they are forced to fight on the same side.

The only thing that saved this movie from being a total exercise in chest pounding was the involvement of the women.  If Man of Steel was Superman-as-Jesus, Dawn of Justice is the tripartite feminine mystique. Think about it. You have Lois Lane (Amy Adams) as the idealistic damsel in distress, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) as the no-nonsense warrior, and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) as the encompassing mother figure.  These three women provide advice, support, and a common framework that keeps the two hyper masculine men from killing each other on principle because they're too caught up in their egos to have a conversation.

Aside from my going way deep on Zach Snyder's reinforcing of traditional gender roles, I think that this movie suffered from being way too dependent on having read the comics.  There were a lot of references and Easter eggs that would have only made sense to someone familiar with the storylines or who had read about them online.  There were several points where Christy was confused over the significance of certain scenes or phrases which detracted from her overall enjoyment.  There are also a number of dream sequences which add a lot of surreality.

I didn't flat-out hate it and I actually think it might improve on subsequent viewings.